Training Birds

[ReseisCL16]

Hey there everyone!

I'm still new to the homing pigeons, and at the moment I'm trying to get my wedding dove release business off the ground. The only problem is that I'm having a heck of a time actually training my pigeons. I was told to just leave their door open so that they could learn how to come in and out and explore the surrounding area, but my homers have very little interest in exploring. The few that do emerge from their loft prefer to just perch on top of the barn. That was alright until a a hawk realized that it could catch them without too much difficulty. I've lost two birds this month, and I'm not about to let my others out any time soon. They're laying and hatching babies, but it's just not economical to keep losing birds.

So how do you all train your birds to fly home from long distances and go in and out through their door quickly? Any advice would be great!

Bonus Question: I'm beginning to keep records of my birds and need some good leg bands to do that. Does anyone have a favorite type of legband for homer-size birds? The plastic ones I find on Amazon seem as though the numbering will rub off quickly and I can't find any "clip on" metal legbands. I would use seamless, but I tend to forget to band my Port babies before they get too big and I'm sure I would do the same with the homers.

 

[backyard pigeons]

So how do you all train your birds to fly home from long distances and go in and out through their door quickly? Any advice would be great!

keep them hungry! Train train train for them to go thru the door. My bird before they go outside, go thru the trap door at least 30 times. When I whistle, my 12-15 loft flying birds should not take longer than 1 minutes it's to come down from over the treetops and in the trap. They should drop like a rock. How much are you feeding for how many birds? My birds get all they can eat in 5minutes, once a day.

As for getting them out long distances? Start small. Try to toss all but 1 day of the week. First toss should be 200 yards from the loft. Next toss 1mile. Next one 3 miles. Next one 5 miles. Next one 3 miles from the opposite direction. go all around increasing you dropping point several miles each time. Once they have come back from 20 miles in good time, they are ready for 50-75 mile tosses. Always remember to go in different directions. Since they will be wedding birds, they will be released from all over.

Now, once they have done tosses and built up mussle, they will WANT to fly when you let them out of the loft. I'm a way, it's kinda like how a human wouldn't enjoy working out, until they have a little strength, an than they will be more excited to.

I was told to just leave their door open so that they could learn how to come in and out and explore the surrounding area, but my homers have very little interest in exploring

this will come with time. Do 6 tosses a week (if possible) and then give them a loft fly. Once they have muscel, they should fly and stay up on the air longer.

Does anyone have a favorite type of legband for homer-size birds?

seamless... I know you said you don't like them, but that is the way to go. There are snap ons, but they just fall off or the number wears off. The only other option that I know of is metal rings the you bend around their legs. But they are pricey. So the most logical choice in my mind is seamless.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[biophiliac]

keep them hungry! Train train train for them to go thru the door. My bird before they go outside, go thru the trap door at least 30 times. When I whistle, my 12-15 loft flying birds should not take longer than 1 minutes it's to come down from over the treetops and in the trap. They should drop like a rock. How much are you feeding for how many birds? My birds get all they can eat in 5minutes, once a day.

As for getting them out long distances? Start small. Try to toss all but 1 day of the week. First toss should be 200 yards from the loft. Next toss 1mile. Next one 3 miles. Next one 5 miles. Next one 3 miles from the opposite direction. go all around increasing you dropping point several miles each time. Once they have come back from 20 miles in good time, they are ready for 50-75 mile tosses. Always remember to go in different directions. Since they will be wedding birds, they will be released from all over.

Now, once they have done tosses and built up mussle, they will WANT to fly when you let them out of the loft. I'm a way, it's kinda like how a human wouldn't enjoy working out, until they have a little strength, an than they will be more excited to.
this will come with time. Do 6 tosses a week (if possible) and then give them a loft fly. Once they have muscel, they should fly and stay up on the air longer.
seamless... I know you said you don't like them, but that is the way to go. There are snap ons, but they just fall off or the number wears off. The only other option that I know of is metal rings the you bend around their legs. But they are pricey. So the most logical choice in my mind is seamless.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions!

I was going to tag you, glad you chimed in BP!
Had this already to post, ...
@backyard pigeons has posted the best training advice I have seen lately.
I can tell you there is more to it than just opening the door to let them come and go.

 

[backyard pigeons]

And one more thing.

when you call them in, call them out of the air. If you wait till they land, they will learn that when they land, you will feed them. I goldenrod helps!


and thanks bio.

 

[ReseisCL16]

This is great! Thank you so much for the help! I really appreciate it!

I just allow my birds to self-feed; I have a trough of seed out for them all the time. Apparently, bad idea. How much seed for about 10 homers is good on a daily basis?

I also have a pretty small flock, so I keep my breeders and my flyers all together. Should the parents be getting more food than the flyers since they are also feeding babies, or would they be fine with the 5 minute feeding regiment?

 

[backyard pigeons]

Apparently, bad idea.

only if you you are flying.

How much seed for about 10 homers is good on a daily basis?

um, hard to day. Probably about 3\4 of a normal sized can. Just time it. 5-6 minutes is best.

Should the parents be getting more food than the flyers since they are also feeding babies, or would they be fine with the 5 minute feeding regiment?

this complicates things. Yes, they probably should. Do you have any way of separating the breeders to a new loft? If you don't, I wouldnt call it impossible. Is there a way to separate the loft in two sections? How big is the loft?

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

It could end up being a challenge for you as most white "homers" are worthless as far as flying birds go. It all depends who you got your stock birds from. Tons of people just breed for color and then they sell them and people get frustrated because they don't want to fly and can't find their way home. If you are feeding your flyers free choice it's definitely a bad idea (especially during training). Full birds don't want to fly... they just want to lounge around and be lazy (aka hawk bait). Start with feeding less and see how they react. I think it's safe to say that more birds have been killed by overfeeding than underfeeding. Personally I feed my birds once a day... it doesn't matter if they are flying, breeding, moulting, feeding youngsters, or whatever. The only things they have in front of them at all times is water, grit, and minerals... but food is a once a day thing.

 

[ReseisCL16]

I did get my homers from a guy who breeds them specifically for homing purposes, although some of mine actually are homer-king crosses, so they're pretty big as far as homers go. I will definitely start the once-a-day feeding schedule!

My loft is a good size; it's divided into three pens already, one for the pigeons and then the other two for breeding chicken flocks. Eventually I might stop breeding the chickens and expand the loft, but for now, I don't have the time to divide it up unfortunately. Hopefully I can get the time to put in another loft, but with all the craziness in the world right now, it will probably have to wait until summer.

 

[PigeonLady]

I can see some problems with keeping breeders and flyers together. How will you know which are which? You say you have hawks... if you just let them all out, and you have a hawk attack, you could end up with untended young that you would have to hand raise, right? Another thought - do you have a trap or are you opening the door for them to go in and out? The trap can be set to allow the birds to enter the loft, but not go back out. This way you have some control.

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

although some of mine actually are homer-king crosses

That's definitely not a good thing...